Gabriel Sanchez
| birth = | spouse = | occupation= Police Officer | professional affiliations = San Atanasio Police Dept. |}}Gabriel "Gabe" Sanchez was a police Sergeant with the San Atanasio, California Police Department. He worked closely with Lt. Colin Ferguson. Like Ferguson, he was recently divorced but still had dependent children and so had more contact with his ex than did his colleague.Eruption, pgs. 36-37, HC. Sanchez worked with Ferguson on the South Bay Strangler case and accompanied him to the murder scenes of Mildred SzymanskiIbid, pgs. 38-39. and Maria Peterfalvy.Ibid, pgs. 78-79. He was glad he wasn't in charge of the investigation when Ferguson had to face the media at the latter location.Ibid, pg. 80. Sanchez saw the news feed that the Yellowstone Supervolcano had erupted before Ferguson and told him of it when he saw him. After Ferguson checked on Kelly Birnbaum and his family, he asked Sanchez to try to secure a supply of gasoline for the department from a refinery in El Segundo or Lomita as the eruption was sure to disrupt distribution. Sanchez objected, saying it was a job for the chief or the mayor but Ferguson explained it needed doing immediately and unofficially. He suggested that the refinery managers would be off-balance with the earthquake that accompanied the eruption and that if Sanchez showed he was on the ball and knew what was going on they would be more likely to cooperate. Sanchez saw the point Ferguson was making and enthusiastically agreed to contact the refineries.Ibid, pgs. 172-178. He was successful at securing a supply of gasoline for the department, at least for a while.Ibid, pg. 268. Sanchez also accompanied Ferguson to a liquor store holdup where the Filipina clerk was held up by a young African-American male carrying a shotgun. When the two viewed a security camera video, Sanchez though it was the same young man who had previously robbed a different liquor store, killing the clerk with a shotgun blast. Back at the station, another officer identified the suspect as JerWilliam Ellis.Ibid, pgs. 270-273. Sanchez continued to work with Ferguson on the Strangler case and accompanied him to the Torrance PD HQ for a meeting called by Captain Nels Jensen. Jensen announced that the murder of Margot Keller in his jurisdiction was confirmed as the work of the Strangler by DNA evidence. The gathered officers gripped about lack of leads but then Ferguson suggested they try to determine how the Strangler picked his victims. Jensen wasn't enthusiastic but did agree it was worth a try. After the meeting Sanchez told Ferguson it was a good idea and well worth perusing.Ibid, pgs. 391-394. Sanchez attended the wedding of Ferguson and Birnbaum and the reception afterwards. When the newlyweds arrived at their hotel room in the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, they found a bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket of ice from Sanchez.Ibid, pgs. 409-411. After the honeymoon, Sanchez and Ferguson had lunch and discussed the latest Strangler murder, Ferguson's new married life and the effects of the eruption in general.Ibid, pgs. 413-417. The summer after the eruption, Sanchez accompanied Ferguson to help investigate the murder of Eiko Ryan, an elderly widow living in Marseille Gardens, an apartment building in San Atanasio. Once again, it was the work of the Strangler although all they could do was interview witnesses and collect forensic evidence.All Fall Down, pgs. 54-58, HC. Although Sanchez's quick work kept the San Atanasio PD fueled, the department was running low about a year after the eruption. The various small South Bay towns worked up a secret deal to get a large oil tanker shipment of crude into San Pedro and then transship it to El Segundo for refinement into gasoline for their sole use. Police Chief Mike Pitcavage had Ferguson take charge of the San Atanasio portion of safeguarding the tanker trucks carrying the crude to the refinery. He immediately had Sanchez as his second in command. Ferguson and Sanchez took strong measures to protect the tankers, not only arming the officers with M16s but also taking the "Door-Knocker", an improvised armored car, out on the job. The operation successfully picked up the tanker convoy from the Torrance PD and handed them over to the Hawthorne PD for the next leg of the trip.Ibid, pgs. 78-89. Almost three years after the eruption, Sanchez played the "bad cop" during the interrogation of Cedric Curtis, a suspect in the armed robbery of a Circle K convenience store. However, it proved unnecessary since Curtis was quite cooperative admitting that the police had caught him and that at least he would be feed in jail.Ibid., pgs. 244-247. The same day, the body of Mrs. Mandelbaum was discovered in her home. Sanchez accompanied Ferguson to the scene which turned out to be another murder by the Strangler.Ibid. pgs. 248-254. A few months later, Lt. Ferguson asked Sanchez to come with him for lunch at the Verona. Sanchez suspected something was up because the Verona was so far from the station and so wasn't surprised to hear that Ferguson had learned from his son that Darren Pitcavage, the chief's son, was dealing drugs. After a bit of thought, he recommended Ferguson approach Rodney Ellis to help with the investigation. Ferguson had already considered Ellis and so felt comfortable doing so.Ibid. pgs. 352-353. While Sanchez wasn't directly involved in the investigation, he was kept abreast of developments and so wasn't surprised when Darren Pitcavage was arrested for felony drug-dealing.Ibid. pg. 374. Due to his indirect involvement, Sanchez was not disinvited to the funeral of Mike Pitcavage by Caroline Pitcavage after the chief committed suicide, the way Ferguson and Ellis had been. He was able to brief Ferguson on it including how the preacher practically blamed Ferguson for the death.Ibid. pg. 394. References Category:Members of the San Atanasio PD Category:Smokers